As part of its ongoing plan to acquire new renewable energy, Platte River Power Authority (“Platte River”) has contracted with an affiliate of Invenergy Wind LLC (“Invenergy”), to purchase output from a new wind power generation facility to be constructed in Colorado.
The Spring Canyon II Energy Center (“Spring Canyon II”) will feature nineteen wind turbines, with the capacity to generate up to 32.5 MW of power. Energy produced will be purchased by Platte River through a 25-year agreement. Construction of Spring Canyon II is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, with commercial operations commencing as early as the fourth quarter of 2014.
The new wind farm will be located in Logan County, approximately 130 miles northeast of Fort Collins. It will be sited near Invenergy’s existing Spring Canyon Energy facility, a 60 MW project in operation since 2006.
Platte River estimates that the electricity produced annually at Spring Canyon II will provide approximately 3.5% of the power consumed in its four owner municipalities. In 2012, 23% of the electricity Platte River delivered to the municipalities was generated by hydropower and wind resources.
“The purchase of additional wind energy provides a number of benefits, including a step toward a more diverse generation portfolio and lower potential future costs associated with fossil fuel emissions, combined with fixed pricing from this resource,” said Jackie Sargent, Platte River's General Manager.
“We are delighted to work with Platte River in developing a new source of clean, homegrown energy in Colorado, a state leading the way when it comes to renewable power generation,”
said James Shield, Chief Development Officer at Invenergy. “With the cost of wind energy at record lows and competitive with other generation sources, this is an excellent time for utilities such as Platte River to be diversifying their power portfolios.”